Almost everyone prays...when they feel desperate enough.
Perhaps the question then is, when (and why) do we stop praying?
"Why do it, if it doesn’t do any good?" — one of our not uncommon thoughts.
An assumption is embedded in this not uncommon working conclusion. Do we think this because when we pray we are, in essence, trying to change God's mind?
Under that pretext, we often pray because of the leverage we feel in need of. If we feel a lack of power to secure what we need (or want), especially when we feel desperate, we appeal to a higher one (until we don’t need it anymore).
What if, however, prayer is really a way to get ourselves in the right state of being (in relation to everything…God). And, what if we need to pray because we acknowledge we need God’s help to do that?
What if, then, prayer is really as much about changing something in ourselves, as it is about changing God's disposition?